He walked back to the bed and crawled on it. "Cold?"

"Yes," I said as my teeth chattered.

He yanked the bedding from my fingers and pulled it loose. He pushed me back and curled up with me, covering us both. His body was like a furnace, and, as angry as I was, I couldn't resist the heat.

"We're a perfect match, magically speaking. I could have resisted your touching my body. s.e.xual excitement alone can't distract me when I focus. But your magic fits mine, tongue and groove, interlocking, like male and female body parts. Without any practice or training together, I can siphon energy from you," he said.

I slapped his shoulder. "I'm not a gas tank. You can't just steal my power."

He grinned. "Yes, I can, which is a good reason for you to apprentice yourself to me. I can teach you how to stop me."

"Oh, I know how to stop you." I kicked the covers off. His body heat and my anger had done the trick; I wasn't as cold anymore.

He reached for me, but I slapped his hands away, scooting off the bed.

"Tamara-"

"No," I snapped, collecting the two sheets of paper with the spells on them. They'd fallen off the bed in all the freaky s.e.xlike magic.

"You can't cast spells tonight. They won't work."

I spun to face him. "Why not?"

"I've drawn too much power from you."

"Then get up off your b.u.t.t and come with me. I've got people to save."

"I can't do that."

I flung my hand forward and pointed at him. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! No wonder you're on the list."

"I can give you some power to work with. Come back to me," he said, holding out a hand. He was heartbreakingly gorgeous as he tried to coax me, but I knew better than to trust him.

Those dark blue eyes glittered at me, s.e.xy and dangerous. I wanted him, and I knew he could tell. I closed my eyes and remembered the Glenfiddle workers. I thought about Stucky Clark's wedding, which was scheduled for next spring, and Lil Czarszak, six months pregnant. What would she do if Red died?

I clenched my fists and my jaw. My lids popped open, and I narrowed them at Bryn. "I don't have time to cuddle up with you right now. But I do have time to wait while you write me a spell of power that will give me enough juice to make these work," I said, shaking the pages at him.

He shook his head. "You would only hurt yourself. It's an upper-level skill to call power from nature. You're too inexperienced to make it work."

I pointed my finger at him again. "You healed your wound with a healing spell that was powered by the magic you stole from me. You owe me-"

"You're holding two spells that I gave you from one of my books. You can consider the power I took as payment for them. Reciprocity. And I'm offering to give you power back."

"You just want to experiment or something. I can tell by that look in your eyes that you want something. Zach gets the same look when he sees a Cobra Mustang." I marched over to the door. "And don't think I'll forget this. I will get even with you."

"That red hair suits you."

"Explain that!"

"Lots of pa.s.sion, not much sense under its influence."

I spun to the rock bowl fountain and s.n.a.t.c.hed a rock, which I whipped at him. He ducked, and it bounced off the mahogany headboard, leaving a big chip in the veneer. "That's for not helping me and for stealing from me and for being a total jerk!"

I flung the door open and marched out, stomping down the hallway, then the stairs. I rushed out the front door, muttering curses. I realized when I got to the gate that I didn't have a key to get out or a car to drive home. I couldn't even buzz the security guy because the buzzer was on the outside of the gate. I stalked over a small hill to where I figured the security man might have a post.

A high-pitched whine froze me. I'd forgotten that I hadn't come alone to Bryn's.

"Mercutio!" I called. I ran toward the bushes, following the sound of panting. As I crawled to the hedge, Merc screeched at me.

"It's me!" I slid my hand in, heart hammering. I hoped he wouldn't bite me.

I felt his fur and pulled him to me. He lay limp and b.l.o.o.d.y, fur torn. "Oh no! Mercutio, what happened? What happened to you?" I sobbed.

I cuddled him to my chest, rushing back over the hill. I got just inside the door when I saw two black heads. My sneakers, which I'd forgotten, were in Bryn's left hand as he leaned over a large black Rottweiler that licked a b.l.o.o.d.y wound of his own.

"What have you been fighting, Angus?" Bryn asked, not seeing us.

Angus, spotting me and Mercutio, squared his broad shoulders and growled.

Bryn grabbed the dog's collar and held him back just as he lunged toward us. Mercutio hissed and twisted in my arms.

"I hate you and your dog!" I yelled.

Angus barked and gnashed his teeth at us. Bryn shouted at the dog in some language I couldn't even identify. He dragged Angus by the collar and locked him in a closet.

"Is he badly hurt?" Bryn asked grimly.

"I don't know," I said, tears running down my face.

"Here, give him to me. I'll take him to the vet."

"You're not putting him to sleep. No one is putting him to sleep. He's my cat!"

"I won't do anything without your permission. Give him to me. You don't have time to take him to the vet if you're going to try the counterspell."

"If you do anything to him, I swear I'll be the worst enemy you ever had."

"I very much doubt that, and you seem to forget that I'm the one who gave him to you."

I had forgotten that. Actually, I'd forgotten everything.

I handed Mercutio gingerly to Bryn. "You'll take him to the vet and make sure they help him?"

"I promise."

I rubbed the tears away from my eyes and pulled my shoes from Bryn's fingers.

"I can't get out the gate," I said as I shoved my feet into the sneakers.

"I'll let you out."

"You could have opened the gate for me earlier, couldn't you have? You could have done it from upstairs, right? You walked down here with my sneakers because you knew I'd be coming back in."

"My hair isn't red," he said with a shrug.

Arrogant freaking b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I tied my shoes, strangling my feet from yanking the laces so tight. I leaned over and kissed Mercutio's head. "I'm coming to get you right after I finish helping those people. Don't die. I'll buy you a lot of catnip this weekend, I promise. So don't die," I whispered.

Tears rolled down my cheeks again. If Bryn had been Zach, he wouldn't have let me go so upset, but Bryn just walked over to the phone. He held Mercutio with one arm and dialed with the other hand.

As I walked toward the door, I heard him talking.

"Mac, it's Bryn Lyons. No, Angus is fine, but I need to bring in a cat. Can you open the clinic? I'll meet you there."

I hurried out, trusting Bryn would take care of Mercutio because I had no choice. The limo was at the end of the drive, waiting for me. I opened the door and flung myself inside.

I didn't need to say anything to the driver. He pa.s.sed the open gate and drove me to my house. I chewed my thumbnail, telling myself with each pa.s.sing block that Mercutio was tough and would be okay.

At home, I quickly washed my face and set my mind to fixing things. I gathered the ingredients and focused all my energy on what I wanted to do, to heal the injured.

I felt a rustling of the wind and heard rain splatter against the roof as I finished the henna paste. This is going to work, I told myself over and over.

I remembered what Bryn had said about my not having enough power left to do the spells. I knew after tonight I wouldn't get another chance, so I had to draw magic to me or steal it from wherever I could.

I'd seen Aunt Mel work a power spell once in the backyard. I'd watched from the window but hadn't heard all the words. I did remember that she'd marked the corners and called to the earth. She'd been naked, but I couldn't see taking things that far.

I took off everything except my plum-colored bra and panties, then paused, wondering if I could really afford to hold back. I frowned.

But I don't want to. I really don't.

I stomped my foot at my hesitation. "Hey, lives are at stake. End of story." I took a deep breath, stripped naked as a june bug and marched out into the yard with a knife. I crouched on a small patch of gra.s.s and cut symbols in four corners. I hoped they were close enough to the ones I remembered seeing in the ground.

I cut the tip of my finger, yelping in pain. Good thing I wasn't going to do any spell-casting after the Glenfiddle problem was solved because I didn't like poking and cutting myself. My finger throbbed and blood dripped in a steady stream. Steadier than I'd planned. Could a person bleed to death from a p.r.i.c.ked finger? I didn't think so, but felt a little woozy at the thought.

"Hear me, power of the earth, and feed me your strength as I give you mine. I call to the North, to the four corners, to the legacy of a family long faithful to the craft. Grant me your green energy." Green energy? Sounded like an eco-slogan. The earth must have been skeptical, too, because I didn't feel a thing. "Please, give me a little help. I need it and not for myself." I stretched my arms out and tossed my head back. "I call to you. I beseech you. I'm not a witch really. But I do respect the planet. I recycle. And if you help me, I'll start a program. Lord knows people throw away too much gla.s.s and plastic." Was I allowed to mention G.o.d in a quest for pagan power? "G.o.d, no offense here. If you want to grant me a miracle, that would be fine, too. Amen."

I shook my head. Probably that was the worst call for power that anyone ever performed. I was glad Mercutio wasn't here because it would have been embarra.s.sing for him to hear me. I went back into the house and washed my finger, which was still pulsing blood. I pinched the tip.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

I'd just gotten it to stop bleeding and was putting on a Band-Aid when a loud knock at the door startled me. I scrambled into my clothes and rushed over to answer it, expecting it to be Bryn with Mercutio. I pulled the door open to find Zach, his expression as full of thunder as the impending storm.

"Girl, you better have a d.a.m.n good explanation."

Chapter 12.

"I do have a good explanation for running off, but I can't tell you what it is," I said.

The veins and muscles in Zach's neck popped up. I knew I was about to get an earful, but we didn't have time for that.

"I have special medicine. I was just on my way back to Glenfiddle."

"Sure you were."

"I don't lie." About anything important . . . unless there's a real good reason.

"What were you doing with Bryn Lyons?"

So he'd already heard? Small-town folk are faster than DSL Internet. Darn them.

"Can we talk about it on the way? And, hey, what are you doing here? Didn't the sheriff say we were all supposed to stay at the factory?"

"You ran off, and, like a d.a.m.n fool, I came looking for you. Then I hear you're taking limo rides with Lyons," he spat. "You want to explain that to me? Not so's I'd care if he got struck down with whatever disease these people have got, but I do give a s.h.i.t that you'd rather spend what could be your last hours with that arrogant SOB instead of me."

I looked at his handsome face, and something inside me started to hurt. Zach might be my difficult ex-husband, but he never would've taken power away from me that I planned to use to save people's lives in order to heal himself. He'd have stayed wounded and taken me to the people, and when we got home he'd have drunk a bottle of whiskey to kill the pain and told me to clean the wound for him and then to sit a spell and talk to take his mind off it.

I touched his face. "I only ever loved one man, and I'm looking at him."

"So what were you doing with him tonight? And what did he say to you to make you cry?"

I blinked and looked away. I guess washing my face hadn't made my eyes less red. I should have spilled some Visine in them, but heck, I'd had other things on my mind, and I wasn't expecting company.

"I was crying over Mercutio. He forgot he's a cat and got himself in a dogfight. So he's at the vet, and I don't know if he's going to be okay. I hope so. I really do hope so." I bit my lip and shook my head. I was pretty sure Mercutio wouldn't want me to get distracted at a time like this. "C'mon let's get to the factory and see if this medicine works. We'll talk about everything later."

"What kind of medicine is it, and where did you get it?"

"I got it from someone Bryn knows."

He didn't seem satisfied with that explanation, but before he could ask more, I said, "We're wasting time. Those people are dying!"

Zach walked out, and I followed him. I climbed into the front seat of his prowler, debating whether or not I should tell him everything. He didn't believe in magic. We'd had some whopper fights because I believed in Edie. If I told him about casting spells and werewolves, he would think I was crazy and have me committed, but how was I supposed to cast a counterspell with him watching? And how was I going to explain running around town in a trench coat with Bryn Lyons?

I avoided his questions during the drive by asking plenty of my own about how the Glenfiddle workers were doing. Zach told me that he and the sheriff had been busy, dousing the people with water, then turning the big fans on them to cool them off.

We got to the factory and found that the sheriff too had left the scene.

"Must've gone for help," Zach said. "We didn't want to risk infecting the rest of the town since we'd been exposed, and we kept expecting the radios to start working out here, but they never did. I don't know what's going on."

"Did you call for help once you got away from here?" I asked him.

"Yeah, should be on its way by now. They had to go over to Dyson to get some special protective suits that we don't have. Gear for coming into contact with hazardous materials. The question is why you didn't call for help right after you left. You let us sit here all night while you went to a party."

"I knew the sickness couldn't infect you." I walked to the doors, feeling decidedly uneasy about Zach watching me. And that wouldn't help my concentration, which, like Bryn Lyons said, I would need. I turned. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Like what?"

"I need to be alone to give them this medicine."

"Why? What is it?"